|
 BED TAX/CONFERENCE CENTER HISTORY OF EVENTS
'98
For those new to the Bed Tax/Conference Center
issue, here's a chronology of events and facts for your
information. On this page you will find link to every
page related to this issue...
DECEMBER 1998
December 10, 1998 Daily News - "Request for bed tax hike
delayed - Okaloosa County tourism officials say the one-cent increase could
not be used toward a conference center. Okaloosa County tourism officials want
another $1.2 million to keep up with the rest of Northwest Florida's tourism boosters..."
By JEFF NEWELL, Daily News Staff Writer
 TOP
MAY 1998
May 22, 1998 Daily News - "New law clears way for
construction of Okaloosa Island conference center... - The ball is
back in the court of local tourism officials, planners and developers. Local
tourism officials have finally shrugged off the legislative restraints that prevented them
from using bed tax money to build a conference center on Okaloosa Island..."
by TIM CROFT Daily News Capital Bureau
May 01, 1998 Daily News - "Bed tax decision sits
well locally - Even with the measure close to becoming law, the
conference center is By far from a done deal. Only the governor's signature stands
between Okaloosa County and a funding source for a new 70,000-square-foot conference
center, but local officials say the issue is far from decided."
by ANTON CAPUTO Daily News Staff Writer
TOP
APRIL 1998
April 30, 1998 Daily News - "The governor's signature
is the only obstacle remaining for legislation that would allow Okaloosa County tourism
officials to use an increase in the local bed tax to finance a conference center on
Okaloosa Island..."
by TIM CROFT Daily News Capital Bureau
April 20, 1998 Daily News - "The Last Frontier
- NAVARRE BEACH -- You can peer at the Gulf of Mexico and Santa Rosa Sound through
wide-open, still-pristine spots lining the beach's main, four-mile strip..."
by DUWAYNE ESCOBEDO, Daily News Staff Writer
April 03, 1998 Daily News - "A proposal earning a
House panel's approval would allow tax revenues from overnight lodging to go toward the
planned 70,000-square-foot conference facility..."
by TIM CROFT Daily News Capital Bureau
TOP
MARCH 1998
March 13, 1998 Daily News - "A proposed
conference center on Okaloosa Island moved closer to reality Thursday when a Senate panel
approved a bill that makes it easier for local tourist development councils to use bed tax
receipts to build conference or convention facilities..."
by TIM CROFT Daily News Capital Bureau
TOP
OCTOBER 1998
October 23, 1997 Daily News - "Okaloosa County's
Tourist Development Council on Wednesday unanimously recommended county commissioners
double the tourism tax to pay for a proposed conference center estimated at $10 to $13
million, and other projects..." - by JEFF NEWELL Daily News Staff Writer
TOP
SEPTEMBER 1998
September 25, 1997 Daily News - "The push for a
conference center on Okaloosa Island got a little closer Wednesday when the Okaloosa
County Tourist Development Council listened to a proposal to manage the facility..."
- by JEFF NEWELL Daily News Staff Writer
TOP
JULY 1998
July 30, 1998 Daily News - "...the political
machine moves inexorably toward the developers, the public be damned..."
*by BILL CAMPBELL Daily News Columnist
July 29, 1998 Daily News - "The
controversy is about politicians apparently wanting one thing and the public wanting
something else..." - *by Del Stone Jr. Daily News Deputy Managing Editor
*INTENDED FOR REFERENCE ONLY, AND NOT AN OFFICIAL OR
POLITICAL ENDORSEMENT
July 22, 1998 Daily News - Funds OK'd for plan on
isle center, by JEFF NEWELL, Daily News Staff Writer - The $35,500 for the
embattled project is approved Tuesday with no public debate. Okaloosa County commissioners
took a step back to the drawing board when they anteed up the first $35,500 needed to
develop an Okaloosa Island conference center. The proposed conference center was a
contentious issue long after public hearings ended a year and a half ago, pitting
preservationists and those seeking more public water access against business interests...
TOP
|
